Visitors to the Statue of Liberty at New York Harbor's Liberty Island may have noticed that the site is extraordinarily flat. LTL Architects, the team studying this area, noted that a 2-foot rise in sea levels would begin to flood the island's edges, and an 8-foot rise would result in the entire island going under.

To keep Lady Liberty's hemline dry, the architects propose creating a network of piers, islets, and underwater kelp forests that would surround Liberty Island as well as Ellis Island, and that would act as buffers to keep back storm surges. The new "amphibious landscape" would feature marinas, parks, concert venues and other recreational activities.